One Person Triumphs, We All Triumph Essay

The book “Last Shot” shows what a basketball game is really about. It doesn't just show you the game and who wins; It shows you how all the competitors need to prepare immensely to attempt to win. It shows you how the players could throw everything away with their grades or selling team merchandise for a maximum profit. During the read of this book, you are Stevie Thomas, teen writing contest winner. You get to experience the time of your life (at least from his perspective), which is going and reporting at the Men’s Basketball NCAA Tournament Final Four. You discover what the reporters have to go through and maybe what the players are told to do. Basketball is much more than just the game, it’s life.

Throughout the film we, see both the coach, individual players, and the team as a whole face numerous psychological obstacles which they overcome to reach the final. The film is based highly around racism and racial divides within basketball. Throughout the film we can see a constant battle with the idea of Perception, and how both player and overcome this. In order to form the 1966 championship winning team,

“The battle you are going through is not fueled by the words or actions of others; it is fueled by the mind that gives it importance” – Shannon L. Alder. The novel, Hoops by Walter Dean Myers, follows the life of Lonnie Jackson, a high school student from Harlem who has an unusually impressive talent for playing basketball. Lonnie’s goal in life is more than just being one of the best players to ever hit the court; for Lonnie wishes to create a new life for himself– one that is free from the struggles of Harlem streets. This goal along with his environment bring constant conflicts in Lonnie’s journey, which gradually develops his character from self-centered to compassionate. Lonnie’s professional relationship with Cal Jones as well as his bond with Paul and Mary-Ann guide him on how to both become a respected player and how to grow up into a noble man.

Sports psychology deals with the mental and emotional aspects of physical performance. It involves describing, explaining and predicting attitudes, feelings and behaviours in an attempt to improve performance. In the film 'Coach Carter,' directed by Thomas Carter, sport psychology is used effectively to enhance the performance of a high school basketball team. However, this improved performance is not limited to the basketball court, it extends into the classroom where the students use goal setting, motivation, concentration and confidence control, ultimately to become accepted into college, avoiding a life of drugs, gangs and prison.

The film wasn’t about that 13-0 record and winning a state championship, but the struggle that came with it and all the hardships they had to deal and get past. Racism, prejudice, compassion and love were all key aspects of this film as shown. The racism, prejudice of the team when they first met was severe and had been changed. The love and compassion came as the team grew to become one unit and love each other and be able to become something more powerful than they could be by themselves.

The selected piece “Hoop Dreams,” movie review by Robert Ebert is part of the review

His teaching styles were very unintentional but you could tell what he was doing. Since he had experienced a similar situation when he was once on a team, he had wanted to give his team a different form of coaching that they wouldn’t have had expected at Richmond High School. Coach Carter did a very exquisite job at portraying these learning styles, knowing that there could have been consequences to a certain amount. It was gratifying to see that Coach Carter would do anything for his team, win or lose, he wanted them to come out successful and at least learn something even if it was a

The film has a clever dialogue which resonated with young movie lover that found it to be exciting and

It’s often an uphill fight. The ego-driven culture of basketball, and society in general, militates against cultivating this kind of selfless action, even for members of a team whose success as individuals in tied directly to the group performance. Our society places such a high premium on individual achievement, it’s easy for players to get blinded by their own self-importance and lose a sense of interconnectedness, the essence of teamwork.”

Coach Carter also displays transformational leadership. Transformational leadership is the ability of a leader to get people to do more than they originally expected to do in support of large scale innovation and change; the leader inspire and excite followers to high level of performance (Nelson & Quick, 2013). According to Marquis & Huston (1992), there are five key qualities of a transformational leader. One of the qualities is having the passion and ability to inspire. Transformational leaders show passion in their work and have the capacity to pass this passion on to others. Coach Carter is successful in achieving this through setting clear expectations and demonstrates passion when doing this. At their first team meeting, Carter hands each student a contract, setting out his expectations of the contracts. If they do not sign and follow it, they do not play. Coach Carter aims to pass on his passion to the players enabling them to succeed in playing sports and succeed in their education. Another quality transformational leaders possess is the ability to pass their values on to others. According to Marquis & Huston (1992), people admire leaders that support their own values and beliefs by enabling others to understand how their own values make them who they are. Coach Carter encourages a team ethic throughout. Carter ensures his team takes this on board by stopping everyone from playing – academic achiever or not. He’s teaching that successful teams succeed because of

The power and prestige of this film comes not from its controversial and serious subject matter, but from the unbiased way in which the story is

Coach Carter received both high praise and staunch criticism when he made national news for benching his entire undefeated team for poor academic performance. Set in Richmond,

The film was engaging and thoroughly executed. The actors suited their roles, and played well. The theme in the film was educational and intriguing. Apart from some small flaws, the film was enjoyable. The circumstances around the film, as poor oxygen in the classroom and darkness, made it a little tiresome to watch, and therefore, the film seemed stretched out. In reflection, that impression was misplaced.

All of the characters presented in the movie have a distinct personality, making the viewer engage deeply in the heart pumping action and drama.

“The Winner Within” is about a life plan for team players and what it takes to be a successful team. Each chapter is based on one subject, and that subject is one of the many things that a team needs to be successful. Pat Riley shares his game plan for team players in all of life, not just on the court. All of the strategies in this book are very inspiring and motivate teamwork. I think that the first chapter in the book, ‘The Innocent Climb’, is one of the most important concepts you have to have on a team. The innocent climb is the surge that occurs within a team as they are accomplishing more because of the synergy that occurs within a team. Innocence means understanding that the team comes first and being carried along by that.